school of psychology addis ababa university

129 Pages·2014·0.62 MB·English

ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES

THE ROLE OF MATERNAL CHARACTERISTICS ON
NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF ETHIOPIAN CHILDREN

BY MICHAEL TIRFE

A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of Addis Ababa
University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Masters of Science in Economics

JULY, 2006
Addis Ababa
ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY
School of Graduate Studies

The Role of Maternal Characteristics on Nutritional Status of
Ethiopian Children

By Michael Tirfe
Faculty of Business and Economics
Department of Economics

Approved by Board of Examiners:

Dr. Tassew Woldehanna _______________
Advisor Signature

___________________ _______________
Examiner Signature

___________________ _______________
Examiner Signature
Declaration

The thesis my original work, has not been presented for a degree in any other university
and that all sources of material used for the thesis have been duly acknowledged.

Name Michael Tirfe
Signiture ____________

Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Business and Economics,
Department of Economics
Date: July, 2006
Place: Addis Ababa
Confirmed by Supervisor
Name Dr. Tassew Woldehanna
Signiture _____________
Acknowledgement

I would like to thank my advisor Dr. Tassew Woldehanna for his comments and
assistance from the start to the end. Also, I would like to thank W/o Bilisuma Bushie for
her advice. I am indebted to my parents Ato Tirfe Hailesellassie and W/o Elizabeth Kifle
for all the support they have given me. My thanks also goes to Ato Kibirtaye Taffesse for
his invaluable support.

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Contents

Acknowledgment i
Abstract ii

Chapter One
Introduction 1
1.1 Background 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem 3
1.3 Objective of the Study 5
1.4 Organization of the Study 6

Chapter Two
Review of Literature 7
2.1 Theoretical Literature 7
2.1.1 The Concept and Measurement of Welfare 7
2.1.2 Nutritional Status Indicators and Child Welfare 11
2.1.2.1 Anthropometric Indicators of Child Nutritional Status 12
2.1.2.2 Advantages of Anthropometric Indicators of Child
Nutritional Status 16
2.1.2.3 Consequences of Child Malnutrition 19
2.1.2.4 Causes of Child Malnutrition 22
2.1.2.5 Household Level Socioeconomic Determinants of
Child Nutritional Status 26
2.2 Empirical Literature 32
2.2.1 Global and Regional Trends 32
2.2.2 Empirical Studies on the Determinants of Child Malnutrition 34

Chapter Three
Data and Methodology 41
3.1 Data 41
3.2 Methodology 42
3.2.1 Theoretical Framework 42
3.2.2 Empirical Model 44
3.2.2.1 Description of Variables 45

Chapter Four
Empirical Analysis 51
4.1 Descriptive and Bivariate Analysis of the Data 51
4.1.1 Distribution of Child Malnutrition by Region 51
4.1.2 Distribution of Child Malnutrition by Socioeconomic and
Demographic Characteristics 54
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4.1.3 Bivariate Analysis 61
4.2 Multivariate Analysis 64
4.2.1 The HAZ Regression 65
4.2.2 The WAZ Regression 70
Chapter Five
Conclusion and Recommendation 73
5.1 Conclusion 73
5.2 Recommendation 75

References 77
Appendix 1 83
Appendix 2 85

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Tables

Table 4.1.1 Distribution of stunting and underweight by region of residence 52

Table 4.1.2 Distribution of severe stunting and severe underweight by region
of residence 52

Table 4.1.3 Education level of mothers and their partners 55

Table 4.1.4 Employment status of mothers 55

Table 4.1.5 Distribution of households by type of toilet facility used 58

Table 4.1.6 Distribution of households by source of drinking water 58

Table 4.1.7 Sex of household head 59

Table 4.1.8 National distribution of stunting and underweight by
socioeconomic and demographic Status 60

Table 4.1.9 Child stunting by socioeconomic and demographic
characteristics in rural and urban areas and Chi Square test of significance 62

Table 4.1.10 Child underweight by socioeconomic and demographic
characteristics in rural and urban areas and Chi Square test of significance 63

Table 4.2.1 Robust OLS estimation results for HAZ scores 67

Table 4.2.2 Robust OLS estimation results for WAZ scores 71

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Abstract

Many Ethiopian children suffer from the burden of malnutrition. Studies show that half of
the children are either stunted or underweight. The prevalence rate of child malnutrition
in Ethiopia is higher than the average prevalence rate for Sub Saharan Africa countries
for which the Demographic and Health Survey was conducted. The implication is that
timely interventions are critical which require a good knowledge of the major causes of
child malnutrition. This paper examines the role of maternal characteristics (education,
relative household status, and employment) on nutritional status of Ethiopian children as
measured by stunting and underweight. Separate estimations were performed for rural
and urban areas. The result showed that mothers’ education level and their relative
household status are important determinants of the nutritional status of children. In
addition, household economic status and age of a child showed a strong association with
nutritional status.

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Chapter One
Introduction
1.1 Background

Child welfare has attracted the attention of researchers, policy makers and others. It has
been a subject of extensive debates and controversies.

In general, the concept of welfare is complex and multifaceted: it includes social,
political, economic, cultural and traditional dimensions (Kedir, 1997). Inadequate welfare
has been the case in many parts of the world, specifically in the developing world. The
burden of this unfavorable welfare situation is not evenly shouldered among different
sections of society. Women and especially children suffer heavily from the adverse
impacts of poverty.

Child welfare is similar to adult welfare in that it encompasses both material and
nonmaterial aspects. However, it exhibits characteristics that are distinct from that of
adult welfare (Chowdhury, 2005).

Chowdhury (2005) emphasized that childhood poverty occurs at the most vital period of
physical and mental development such that deprivations in terms of nutrition, healthcare,
education, or security even for a relatively short period of time can have long lasting and
irreversible consequences on child development. Consequently, productivity and welfare
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in adulthood could be adversely affected following early childhood poverty which in turn
might lead to intergenerational transmission of poverty.

Despite the importance of ensuring the welfare of children, many children in different
parts of the world have been deprived of basic services and care that are essential for their
development. Empirically, Moore (2004) presented findings from a survey data collected
during the 1990’s on nearly 1.2 billion children from 46 countries. Accordingly, over one
billion children, that is more than half of the children in developing countries, suffered
from a severe deprivation of at least one basic human need and one third of them were
deprived of two or more basic needs.

Regarding the measurement of child welfare, traditional money metrics welfare measures
such as consumption expenditure and income have some weaknesses in measuring child
welfare. As a result, non money metrics measures of welfare have been increasingly in
use to supplement the traditional measures of welfare.

Recent approaches have focused on using measures that encompass health and nutritional
status dimensions of child welfare. In this regard, nutritional status indicators have been
widely used. Specifically, anthropometric measures have turned out to be the most ideal
indicators of child nutritional status which is why they have been utilized extensively in
measuring child welfare.

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